Liquid crystal display devices have been used in all types of devices in recent years, such as in mobile phones. The display surface of the liquid crystal display device has an image display area and a non-image display area (frame). Advancements in technology have led to large image display areas while narrowing the non-image display areas. As a result, compared to the total area of the display screen, the proportion of the image display area to the non-image display area has greatly increased. Furthermore, there is demand to further widen the image display area while maintaining the size of the liquid crystal display device itself, but to address this demand it is necessary to narrow the non-image display area.
A liquid crystal display device is an image display device in which liquid crystal is sealed between two glass substrates, and the application of voltage changes the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, thereby increasing or decreasing the transmittance of light in order to display an image. The liquid crystal panel forming a portion of the liquid crystal display device does not emit light on its own, and thus requires an external light source. Therefore, in the liquid crystal display device, a light source referred to as the backlight is disposed facing the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel. The backlight emits light from the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel. This type of liquid crystal display device is referred to as a transmissive liquid crystal display device or a transflective liquid crystal display device.
The structure of a conventional liquid crystal display device A will be explained with reference to FIG. 1. The liquid crystal display device A includes a liquid crystal panel 100 and a backlight unit 200.
The liquid crystal panel 100 has a front polarizing plate 101 disposed on the display surface of the panel and a rear polarizing plate 106 disposed on the rear surface of the panel. A color filter substrate 102, liquid crystal layer 104, and array substrate 105 are layered between the front polarizing plate 101 and rear polarizing plate 106. The outer edges of the color filter substrate 102 and array substrate 105 are attached together via a sealing member 103. Liquid crystal is sealed into the space created by the sealing member, thereby forming the liquid crystal layer 104. A light-blocking layer 102a is formed on the outer edges of the color filter substrate 102 so as to make the sealing member 103 etc. imperceptible to the viewer.
An image display area 100a is formed in the center of the display surface of the liquid crystal display device A. Furthermore, a non-image display area 100b is formed around the image display area 100a. The light-blocking layer 102a is formed in a position that overlaps the non-image display area 100b. 
The backlight unit 200 is bonded facing the rear surface (rear polarizing plate 106) of the liquid crystal panel 100 having the above-mentioned configuration. The liquid crystal panel 100 and backlight unit 200 each have the outer edges thereof attached to each other by rim tape (double-sided tape) 300. Light L emitted from the backlight unit 200 enters from the rear polarizing plate 106 and passes through the array substrate 105, liquid crystal layer 104, color filter substrate 102, and front polarizing plate 101 to reach the eyes of the viewer.
The light L emitted from the backlight unit 200 also passes through and escapes from the bonding surface between the liquid crystal panel 100 and backlight unit 200. In order to prevent light leakage from this bonding surface, the rim tape 300, which is colored black, is disposed on the outer edges of the bonding surface to block the light L. In other words, in addition to attaching the liquid crystal panel 100 and the backlight unit 200 together, the rim tape 300 also functions to block the light L emitted from the backlight unit 200.
If the rim tape 300 is positioned inside the image display area 100a, the rim tape 300 will appear as a shadow in the image display area 100a, and regular images will be unable to be displayed. This is due to the rim tape 300 being colored black, and thus the light L from the backlight unit 200 being blocked.
To prevent this, it is necessary to dispose the rim tape 300 so that the tape is positioned inside the non-image display area 100b. 